Ky Robinson has become the first Australian male since the great Ron Clarke to simultaneously hold the national records over both 5000m and 10,000m, after slicing almost five seconds off Craig Mottram’s long-standing 5000m mark at the Oslo Diamond League — the Bislett Games — overnight.
Robinson finished eighth in a blisteringly fast field in 12:50.82, erasing the 12:55.76 Mottram ran in 2004 when he placed second at the London Grand Prix behind distance running legend Haile Gebrselassie. Earlier this year the Queenslander had already claimed the national 10,000m record, clocking 26:57.07 in San Juan Capistrano, USA, putting him in territory no Australian male has occupied since Clarke held both marks in the 1960s.
It was a performance built on control and aggression. Robinson moved to the front with five laps remaining, passing 3000m in 7:48 and powering through 3200m at almost exactly the pace Clarke ran for his two-mile world record of 8:19.8 back in 1967. He closed with a 2:28 final kilometre and a 57.7 last lap.
For all the history, Robinson’s first instinct afterwards was that the result could have been even better.
“It’s just immediately after the race, so my first thought is I could have won that on a different day,” he said to The Call Room podcast after the race. “To be unhappy with a 12:50 and a national record is a pretty good standard that I’ve set myself.”
He credited the race plan from coach Dathan Ritzenhein for setting him up to attack.
“Dathan said find the pack and stay with it, and don’t be afraid to take it with 2K to go when the pacer steps out. It was starting to slow down before the pacer stepped out and I was feeling good, so I thought I want to run a quick time,” Robinson said.
“Winning races is what counts but at the same time this isn’t the major goal for the year — it’s just a stepping stone — so I wanted to use this as one of those points of reflection, to refine where I need to get better.”
The 5000m, in which Robinson finished fourth at last year’s World Championships, was won by Ethiopia’s Addisu Yihune in a world-leading 12:47.62, with the top 11 all dipping under 13 minutes.
Australian All-Time List (at 10 June 2026) # Time Athlete Location, Year 1 12:50.82 Ky Robinson Oslo, 2026 2 12:55.76 Craig Mottram London, 2004 3 12:56.07 Stewart McSweyn Los Ángeles, 2024 4 12:59.43 Jack Rayner Boston, 2025 5 13:00.48 Morgan McDonald Los Ángeles, 2024 6 13:05.22 Jackson Sharp Los Ángeles, 2026 7 13:09.36 Jude Thomas Boston, 2025 8 13:09.57 Collis Birmingham London, 2012 9 13:09.96 Olli Hoare Boston, 2021 10 13:10.08 Ben St Lawrence Melbourne, 2011
With no Olympics or World Championships on the calendar this year, Robinson is weighing how to approach the season’s centrepiece.
“It’s a strange year because it isn’t the Olympics or World Championships. I will focus on the Comm Games and see if I do the double or do a single — that’s up to me and the coaches to decide what’s best for me, because I do want to end up at the Ultimate Championships and put myself in a position to race against the best again.”
Aussies shine across the Bislett program
Robinson’s record was one of several standout Australian performances in Oslo, headlined by a second Diamond League win in a week for pole vaulter Kurtis Marschall.
Marschall cleared 5.82m to win the men’s pole vault, backing up his victory over world record holder Mondo Duplantis in Stockholm a few days earlier. Duplantis was absent from Oslo as he prepares for his upcoming wedding.
“I always wanted to come and compete in Oslo, I used to watch it on TV when I was young,” Marschall said. “I’ve been here twice and to come away with the win I couldn’t be happier, I’m over the moon. I jumped 5.71 last year for third, this time I jumped 5.82 for first. So it’s an improvement on last year, and if we can just continue to build on every year, every competition, that’s all you can ask for.”
Cameron Myers continued his impressive season with a podium finish in the Dream Mile, taking third in 3:48.35 with a negative split and surging from sixth at the bell. Myers’s lap splits through the start line were were 57.0, 57.8, 57.0 and 55.4.
In the 800m, Peter Bol ran a season’s best 1:43.64 for fifth in a stacked field won by American teenage sensation Cooper Lutkenhaus, whose 1:42.08 was the 14th-fastest time in history.
The women’s 3000m produced a strong collective showing. Linden Hall led in the second half of the race and at the bell before the field kicked away. Despite a 64.66 final lap Hall finished fifth in 8:28.06, close to four second behind the winner. Rose Davies was eighth in a personal best 8:29.63 and Lauren Ryan tenth in a PB 8:33.66.
The only athlete not to fire was Gout Gout, who was making his Diamond League debut. The 18-year-old was well below his best, finishing sixth in the 200m in 20.60 (+0.2) in his slowest run since August 2024.
The race was won by Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo of Botswana in 19.84, the equal fourth fastest in the world this year. Gout’s 19.67s set at the Australian Championships, which was recently ratified by World Athletics as the World U20 record, remains the season’s top mark.
“There is definitely a lot more room for improvement, but I’m happy to be here,” Gout said. “I will go back to the workshop and work. It’s a great atmosphere here, Oslo is amazing.”
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